The difference between boys and girls...

OK, I understand that there is an anatomical difference between boys and girls. My mom gave me that talk long ago. But besides just the anatomy, I really think boys are wired differently than girls! Now that Noah is getting a tad older (he's a whole whopping 15-months now, practically a toddler!), he's developing such a distinct personality. From day 1 we could tell that he was a go-getter. He was constantly on the go. Even in sleep, he'd be all over that crib! It was funny to watch him sleep. He'd do circles around the crib. Now that he's walking, he just has a bigger play ground.

Hannah is my tender-hearted, sweet baby girl. She's always wanting to read a book, snuggle in my lap, always making sure to ask if we're happy. She's very thoughtful.

Noah loves to tackle Hannah. He'll just walk up to her and pounce. It makes me laugh every time. Today, Hannah had her 4-year check-up at the doctor (a tad late but what can ya do?) Hannah HATES going to the doctor with a passion. I think it's because she thinks doctor=shots. Granted, there is some truth to that. Up until now just about every doctor's visit has included a shot...or 4. So today, Hannah was sitting on my lap crying her eyes out as the doctor checked her over. Noah was walking around the room and realized he was missing out on the fun and wanted to be included. So over he comes and wants up on my lap also. Good thing I have plenty of lap space :) I see Noah reach over to comfort Hannah and I think "wow, my son is so sweet". Nope, he pulled her hair. That just made Hannah scream even louder. Nothing like kicking her when she's down!

Everything is a throw toy to Noah. It could be a shoe and suddenly it goes flying across the room. He's in Kindermusik class for the first time this summer. He's a serious social butterfly! All the other kids sit in their mom's laps or may crawl a foot away but come right back. Not Noah. He's all over the place. If another mom's lap gets vacated, he's right there to hop on. And when it's "relaxation time" when the lights are low and the teacher puts on soft music for us to snuggle, Noah would rather walk around and scare the other kids. One class she passed out little drums for the kids to beat on. Noah hit it one time then decided he'd rather throw it. He'd crawl over to it then throw it again. I put the ca-bosh on that pretty quickly.

Hannah always asks permission before she does anything. Noah just jumps right in. I have a feeling Noah's teenage years are going to give me some gray hair. We'll have to enroll him in some sports to give him an energy outlet.

An Abundance of Blessing

Today is dedicated to me and my kids. I love them so much but there are days I wonder why the heck I had 1, much less 2! This morning while Joel and Hannah were gone for a few hours, I took some time and just played with Noah. I got down on the floor with him and we played peek-a-boo, rolled a ball back and forth, and chased after each other. Hearing his giggles and excitement made me remember how blessed I am to have 2 beautiful children. It seems like every time I watch the news or get on the internet news sites, there are stories of abuse and neglect. It angers me. How could anyone look at their child and want to harm them? There are moments in every parent's life when their child pushes all the right buttons and you can feel your patience run out. I've had many of those moments. Still, I'm so blessed to be their mother.

Here are some things the kids have done recently:

~Noah is walking! He looks like a drunk sailor but he gets around. He falls constantly to there is always a little bruise in the same spot on his forehead.

~Hannah insists she wants to grow up and be a boy. When asked why, she responds that she wants to be like daddy. It's cute.

~Noah got mad the other day because the toy he wanted was stuck between the fridge and cabinet. When I got it out for him, he put it on the floor and pushed it right back where it was, then clapped.

~Noah is taking a Kindermusik class this summer. Most of the kids are still pretty clingy to their mommies. Not Noah. That boy crawls right up to the teacher and grins waiting for her to start an activity or music. He's a little social butterfly.

~Hannah has been watching Barbie movies lately. (Thanks Piper for getting her hooked on those!) She likes to run around the living room pretending like she's the dragon from one of the movies.

All in all, I'm completely blessed and so fortunate to have 2 amazing kids and a wonderful husband. We have our bad days but luckily we're still trudging through.

Update on the 5K training...

I've been "in training" now for about 6 weeks. The training is set up that at the end of 9 weeks, you should be able to run a 5K. Ok, whatever. In reality, it's going to take a little while longer than that. That being said...it's going well! I still can't say I love running. I don't. I don't see myself ever loving running. But it's such a stress reliever and it's a sense of accomplishment that I can even run at all. I'm up to 2 miles now. It's funny to remember the start of the training when I had to run 60 seconds at a time and I thought I was going to die. :) Just goes to show that I have no sense of my own mortality.

I've also started doing kick-boxing at the Y twice a week. On those days, I run first then head straight to kick-boxing class. By the time class is out, I'm sweaty, tired, and stinky. Hannah likes to tell me I need a shower. Believe me, I know I smell after working out that long.

The kids are doing well. Noah's molars are so close to breaking through and he's a bit on the fussy side. Ok, A LOT of the fussy side. Luckily, the fussiness comes in waves. He's still a happy boy most of the time. Hannah loves watching Barbie movies, which is hysterical to me. She'll go around the living room and recite lines from whichever movie she watched. She likes to pretend she's a dragon and make Joel be the witch from one of the movies. Joel actually does a good job! He's very multi-talented. :)

Noah is walking...falling...walking...falling

Noah has been cruising the furniture for months now. We really thought he'd be walking by the time he turned 1. Nope, he was perfectly happy to crawl very fast and walk only when holding on to something. So last week, my family came into town. Salli and her family were staying with us and my parents came over to hang out and play with the kids. All week Noah had seemed like he was really ready to go. All of a sudden, he gets up and walks! He took 4 steps completely on his own! We clapped and cheered for him. He thought that was pretty cool so he got up and walked again. Then he fell on his butt...and clapped for himself. It was cute. That became a game for him. Get up, walk, fall on butt, clap....over and over again. The most he walked was 11 steps. He's getting better though. This morning he walked across the living room but had to make a couple pit stops along the way. He never fell over, just had to pause and balance himself. He gets a huge grin on his face when he realizes he's mobile. My life will never be the same! He's already into absolutely everything! It's nearly impossible for me to keep my house clean. As soon as the kids realize there aren't any toys out, they immediately go to the toy box and search until they find their favorite toy. Of course the discarded toys don't go back in the toy box very quickly. :)

Hannah is in VBS this week at a local church. She is really liking it! Our church does VBS also but it starts at age 5 and it's in the evenings anyway, which doesn't really work for her. This VBS starts at age 4 and it's in the mornings at the perfect time. I can drop her off, go work out (putting Noah in the awesome Y childcare) then go home, put Noah to bed while I shower and get ready, then go back and pick Hannah up. We're home in time for lunch then she's down for a nap. She's exhausted by the time we get home at noon so she's ready for a nap. It's a hard thing when this other church has so much to offer for her age group. We love our current church but I really wish the child care was a little different. We're torn. We want the best for our kids. Why does being a parent mean you have to make hard decisions? That's my question for the day :)

On a happier note, I'm doing quite well with the Couch to 5K training. I'm on week 5 now which means by the end of this week, I should be able to jog 2 miles straight without stopping to walk. Ugh, we'll see how that goes! I haven't actually fallen off the treadmill yet but I've come pretty close!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Running

So, I'm training for a 5K. I always hated running when I was younger but since Joel, my sister, and her husband have started running a lot, I figured hey, why not? I found a great training regimen called the "Couch to 5K" training (I LOVE the name!) and it's been going very well. However, like most things, there are things about running that I absolutely HATE. Here they are in no particular order:

~My face turns bright red when I get hot. So as I'm running, I look like I'm going to pass out. Some days, that may actually be pretty accurate!

~I nursed 2 children. My boobs are huge and even wearing a sport's bra, I'm fearful the knockers are going to fly up and knock me out. And seriously...why can't sport's bras be a little more attractive? All they do is smash the girls together and give me a uni-boob.

~I hate running on the treadmill next to anyone who is a more serious runner than me (which is many people). I end up running the same speed as them which is not a good thing.

~My knees hurt!!!

~Every slight incline in the road feels like you're climbing Mt. Everest. Not good. Even worse when there's a head wind.

~I hate running through my neighborhood when the neighbors are out in their yard. I'm convinced they're staring at me and wondering if they should be calling 911.

Even with all the things I hate about running, I never thought I'd want to run so it's a sense of achievement after completing every week's training. Plus, I try to remember how skinny I'm going to get. Still waiting on that part though :)

My kids are growing up WAY too fast!

I know every single mother in the world has said that exact same phrase at one point or another. It wasn't until I became a mother that I can actually understand how the little munchkins literally transform in front of your eyes. It's like watching corn grow. One day it's a little seed and the next day *BAM*! Your little seed is a giant corn stalk. Wow, that was a profound statement. Not sure where that came from...

Noah is growing like a weed (there I go with the plant analogies again). He doesn't have another doctor's appointment for a few more months but just looking at how his clothes are fitting, he's getting bigger. That boy can eat like there's no tomorrow! Eating has never been his problem. He has the metabolism we all envy. He eats whatever he wants and doesn't gain weight! He crawls so fast that he burns every calorie he takes in! Don't we all wish we had that problem!? Now he goes through a giant container of yogurt every few days (seriously, not kidding. One of those big tubs of yogurt...every 2 days). He will eat 2 big pancakes for breakfast and still be hungry. Take a big can of ravioli, dump it on his plate, and it's gone in a few minutes. It's amazing to watch. Granted, plenty of the food goes on his shirt, in his hair, some even on the floor. But the vast majority goes down the pie hole. Oh, and pie! He likes that too. The only food he absolutely will not eat is vegetables. I try to sneak them in to other foods and he'll work the food in his mouth until he can spit out the vegetable. He's a smart boy.

Hannah is talking so much better now. She's always been a good talker but she would have a hard time with pronunciation. For example, Wal-Mart would come out "Worm-bert". It was cute for a while but now she's about to start pre-school and really needs to learn her words a little better. So, lately she's slowed down and worked on saying everything the correct way. You can just see her little brain focusing on the word then saying it really slowly to get it right. It's cute. We, of course give her lots of praise which she eats right up. She gets a huge grin on her face and says the word faster and faster until she nails it every time. My little genius. I can't believe she's going to be starting pre-school in the fall! She's attending Small Discoveries Preschool. A neighbor and several teachers I know suggested that preschool. There are a lot of really good ones in here in Ankeny but that one kept coming up as one of the best. She was wait listed for a while but I got a call a while back that she's in. She's guaranteed the afternoon class right now and is on the wait list for the morning class. I'd rather her be in the morning class but it's not a huge deal. I'm just happy she's in! I got all the paperwork in the mail to fill out and have her doctor sign. Man, that's a lot of paperwork! I was surprised. I'm glad the preschool does a good job at making sure the kids are healthy and properly immunized before attending but it's a lot of documentation! I'm sure this is only the first of many papers I have to bring along to the pediatricians appointment. :)

Birthday Party!

Since Hannah and Noah's birthdays are just a month apart, I decided to have one big party for them. I realize that makes me a terrible mother. But since Noah's 1 and doesn't have a lot of little friends yet, the same people were going to be invited to both so why make them all come to 2 parties? So, Hannah really wanted a party at Pump It Up. It's an awesome giant inflatable slide and jumpers. You're in a room with just your own party so you don't have to worry about other random kids plowing over your children. Even though Noah was a little young to really enjoy everything, he still had a great time going down the slide with Joel and crawling all over the place. Hannah had a fabulous time.

Here are some pictures from that day. They're a little backwards since the first picture is of Noah after the party. But that's just the way they uploaded so I'm going with it...

Noah absolutely sacked out on the way home! I think he fell asleep within about 3 minutes.

Enjoying his birthday cake

This was what Hannah looked like after she ate her cake with green frosting

So when Joel brought Noah over to his cake to blow out the candles, Noah just reached his hand and swiped some frosting. If you look closely you can see the frosting on his fingers. He's a boy after his mother's heart when it comes to frosting! YUM

The 2 cakes. Hannah really wanted a Thomas cake; Noah got a Little People cake

Snuggling on the big birthday chair

Noah LOVED going down the slides!

Hannah had fun too

Noah and my mom

Birthday Girl

Birthday Boy

Noah in a constant state of motion!

Here are a few pictures from Hannah's Awana award's ceremony. It was her first year in Awana and she was a Cubbie. She absolutely loved Awana and is already looking forward to being in Cubbies again next year!

Showing off her Awana bear award that she completed her first year Cubbie book!

Hannah singing with her Awana friends. Her best friend, Piper Robie is to her left. Apparently Piper didn't know the motions :)